Placidochromis

The deepwater hap, Placidochromis electra, is a cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, living over sandy bottoms usually below 7 metres. In nature it feeds on invertebrates stirred up by digging substrate feeders such as Taeniolethrinops praeorbitalis. The common name dates from when it was thought to live only in much deeper water. A very gentle species, it is unsuited to a mbuna community, and its colour forms should not be kept together as they may hybridise.

The Super VC 10 hap, Placidochromis milomo, is a cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi, found in the southern part of the lake and at Nkhata Bay. Wild fish have massively enlarged lips for scraping algae and invertebrates from rocks, but these usually recede in the aquarium and do not develop at all in tank-bred fish. Relatively peaceful, it does well with larger Malawians but not mbuna, and only one male should be kept unless the tank is very large.